Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Pan Pacific Championship Top Players

These are some of the top players to watch on the non-MLS sides in the PPC. I can't wait for the games, I'm suffering from MLS withdrawal, and I follow the A and J-League pretty closely throughout the year.

Gamba Osaka

EDIT: I had included Endo and Kaji, however they weren't included in the squad due to the East Asian Cup.

Satoshi Yamaguchi - The captain and a solid defender who leads the back line for Osaka.

Baré - One of the many Brazilians currently playing in the J-League. He had a pretty impressive run last season, knocking in 20 goals in 31 games. In 2005, Bare scored 6 goals in Ventforet Kofu's playoff promotion game, to earn them a spot in J1.

Lucas - Another Brazilian who was recently acquired from FC Tokyo. He's knocked in 48 goals over the past 3 years in Tokyo.

Sydney FC

Juninho - The Brazilian international spent time playing in England, Scotland, and Spain, and is Sydney's marquee player. A fantastic player, he has unfortunately had a ton of minor injury problems and, like another marquee player in this tournament, has spent a lot of time on the bench. I'm sure the Galaxy will remember how brilliant he can be, after their friendly with Sydney a few months back.

Tony Popovic - The big Australian defender spent the bulk of his career playing in the J-League and with Crystal Palace in England. He's been capped by Australia 58 times and is the captain of Sydney FC.

Alex Brosque - His first season with Sydney didn't go very well, but the young FW/Winger made a fine comeback this past season, leading the team with 8 goals in the regular season. He has been included in Australia's squad for their upcoming WC qualifier. The Galaxy will remember him as well, he scored two goals in the recent friendly.

I would have to agree, the Galaxy's defense isn't very impressive looking on paper at this point, but maybe they can play "sexy" and make us all forget they can't defend. It'll be interesting to see if Babayaro and the rookies play though.

They're lucky that Gamba lost Magno Alves to Saudi Arabia this season. That guy is a really good goal scorer.